Verlorene Liebe
by Sailor Ronin Usa-chan
Summary: SMWK One-shot


_Author Notes: Let's see... Okay first of all this was edited by Sapience-imouto (she's the *best* she gave me the title ^^) 2nd... this is my first one-shot and it will *remain* a one-shot. It's also the shortest thing I've ever written o.O I tried to expand it but I only ended up muddling the plot so I pared it down to what I originally had so here you go... _

***

**Verlorene Liebe **

Bills , cash, numerous pictures of a smiling girl, and one faded picture pushed behind everything else- almost as if it was trying to be forgotten. That single picture of the smiling duo was all that remained of his first relationship, if you could even call it that... 

He had been younger then, more naive and ignorant of the harsh ways of the world. She had been a friend to him when no one else wished to play. What age had they been? Twelve? Fourteen? He couldn't remember... He was older than her, but not by much and age hadn't mattered to them. It had been so long ago, something that was probably better left forgotten... 

He was a different person now. He wasn't the same kid that had stolen his first awkward kiss from her laughing lips. He was harder now, cold... She wouldn't recognize him even if he introduced himself to her. Not that he was going to do such a pointless thing of course; their relationship was just another thing he had let shrivel up and die when he had made his vow. 

But still... that didn't explain why he had tracked her down or why he was outside of her house waiting. Waiting for what? He couldn't say... It was foolish and pointless to be here and yet he couldn't tear himself away. He wanted one sighting... one brief glimpse of her before he returned to his life, one last memory of who he used to be rather than who he was now. 

He started to turn and head back to his car when he saw her door open and she stepped out. Age had been kind to her she looked untouched by its rough work. Not that he was expecting her to age a lot in the years since he had last seen her... 

He glanced down and noticed his hand was outstretched towards her, almost intent on reaching out and pulling her back into his life. His lips curved into a frown and he forcefully pulled his arm down as he resigned himself to the fate of a watcher. He'd only stay a little while... Just a bit longer until he could burn her image in his mind, or obliterate it entirely. 

Oblivious to her observer, the young woman paused to inhale the scent of fresh flowers that had recently bloomed, she had always loved spring. As a car horn shattered her serenity, she jerked to attention and grinned widely at the man leaving his car. With a joyous cry she threw herself into his arms with a smile that seemed to light up everything around her. 

So... She had already found someone else. That wasn't quite fair; he had been out of her life for years. Why had he expected her to wait for him when he had abandoned her? She had even moved ... forgotten about him... Though it hurt to be forgotten, there was a part of him that was relieved. Relieved that his little moon bunny had found happiness, even if it hadn't been with him. He could let her go and go on with his own life... He could start again with the current lady of his life. Now that he knew his first love had found happiness, maybe he could too. He watched her for another long moment before turning and walking away, it was better if she believed him dead and gone. 

** 

A flash of black caught Usagi's eye and she stared past her Mamo-chan to focus on it as it flitted around a corner. Could that have been...? No, that was impossible, he had died... Died or left her, she wasn't sure anymore, her memories weren't as sharp as they had been in that time. But... if that *was* him... why was he here? 

"Usako?" his voice rumbled in her ears as he studied her in concern. "Is everything alright?" his dark eyes searched her for any visible injuries as he worried over what had happened to her. Had she felt something like Rei seemed to frequently do? "Usako?" 

For once she had to force a smile with him. Him who she loved with all of her heart... Or at least almost all of it, "I'm fine, Mamo-chan." She assured as she pried herself away from the tight hug and glanced back the way she had sworn she had seen him. "Just thought I saw something..." 

Stormy blue eyes searched the way she pointed and failed to find anything substantial. "I don't see anything, Usako... Do you want to go look?" Something about the way she was holding herself worried him. He knew his fiancée and she didn't normally look so misty eyed. With a grit of his teeth he prepared to defend her from whatever came their way. He had sworn his life and soul to her and he was prepared to give up both to keep her happy. 

"It's nothing, Mamo-chan," she quickly reassured as she tore her gaze away. She could almost feel the eyes that had seemed to burn through her. That *had* been him... But why hadn't he tried to talk to her? Why hadn't he tried to explain everything? But even as the thought came to her she knew better, she would never leave Mamoru for the sake of an old love... Not even the one that had stolen her first kiss. _'Ran... Sayonara' _

** 

_Blue eyes stared up at him in shock as he pulled away from her. As he did so a blush as red as his hair stole across her cheeks and she lowered her head to hide the flush of her cheeks She had never expected him to do that, even if she had somehow been waiting for it. _

_"Usa ," it was his pet name for her. That and vampire bunny since she tended to bite in her sleep, "Go out with me," as soon as he blurted it he realized how childish it sounded and turned red himself. He had a crush on the little blonde for as long as he could remember. She had been one of the rare people that had made friends with him before she even met Aya-chan. Most preferred Aya to him. _

_"Ran..." there were tears in her eyes, she wasn't sure if she was misting up over the situation or if she somehow believed that's what she was expected to do. It wasn't a profession of undying love which she had somehow been waiting for, but it had been something more precious to her, it had been a confession of caring. "Ran!" like a small missile she had locked onto him and hugged him until he started to turn blue. "Hai," her whisper was soft and of great contrast to her current action of squeezing the life out of him. _

_Ran peeled her arms away enough so he could breathe before he hugged back just as fiercely. Though he had sworn himself to protect Aya-chan at all costs, Usagi was second on his list of the people he would give his life to. It was that simple. They had been together since the two could walk-actually, even __before that. He had a dim memory of standing on his tiptoes to look inside of a cradle and see a pink faced wailing infant. _

_"Ne, Ran, no matter what happens... We'll be together forever, right?" Usagi softly questioned her attitude for once becoming a rare seriousness. She always felt like she was going to burst around him. No one else seemed to melt her heart like he did. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to be without him for even just one day. _

_"Hai," Ran's whisper came seconds before his lips once again captured hers in a gentle and unskilled kiss. "Forever," he whispered in soft agreement. _


End file.
